Jan 11, 2006
PJ Parrish had a thing on her blog today about rewriting, and I put in significantly more than my two cents worth, so I'll repost my post here (makes me a poster child, I suppose, or poster-er child).

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Okay. Years and years ago, Writers Digest had an article about author and screenwriter Joe Gores. They put multiple copies of the first page of his novel manuscript in the article with his markings on it so readers could see what the process was like. It was the most valuable writing education I ever received, bar none.

I took up his process and in many ways I still use it. Here it is:

1. Write your chapter.
2. Print it out.
3. Take a felt-tipped pen of some vibrant color--red or blue or green or whatever.
4. Read the chapter out loud and make changes with felt-tipped pen.
5. Wait a few moments or hours or whatever.
6. Take a different colored felt-tipped pen and go over the manuscript again. Read it out loud or don't, at this point there's some value in seeing how your brain reacts to the words on the page versus your reading them aloud. Mark up manuscript.
7. Go to computer and make changes on manuscript--this is a third re-write, don't be afraid to make additional changes.
8. Print out.
9. Move on to next chapter.

And here's the caveat when it comes to novels. When you're done, try to put it away for a length of time. Then find yourself a nice comfy location like your sofa, your bed, your favorite armchair, poolside lounge chair, hammock, etc., that is similar to where you would be reading a novel for pleasure. Read your manuscript as if you were a reader. If you must have a pen in your hands at this point, resist rewriting. Maybe jot a few notes here and there about pace and flow or whether a character works or needs more or less or if something is boring you.

Then, go back to step 1 above and do it all over again.

Do I do this all the time? With variations, yes, and now my novels are getting published. It's not written in stone, but it'll definitely help aspiring writers to give it a shot.

Best,
Mark Terry